ABSTRACT
The Virtue of Prudence occupies a prominent niche in the Temple of Professional Planning. The votaries—among whom I count myself— admonish one another and anyone who will listen that Prudence dictates that we attend to the future, acting now to avoid prospective dangers and to reap the benefits of foresight. We should—prudently— overcome the ubiquitous tendency to calculate our interests so narrowly that we sink our collective ships. Symmetrically, we should regard with prudent skepticism estimates of our intelligence that leave no room for uncertainty or perversity; assessments of our good will that leave no room for egoism and privacy. We should understand that ethical principles are bound to conflict with one another and that it is, therefore, imprudent even to attempt to reconstruct the world or to rewrite our codes as if we could harmonize all interests and all ethical commitments.
